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The smell of hamburgers grilling in the backyard makes carnivores' mouths water. But it makes vegetarians' stomachs turn.

There's no harder time to be a herbivore than the grilling season, when plumes of black smoke hover over balconies and backyards every weekend as the neighbours fire up.

As meat eaters chow down on pork ribs slathered in barbecue sauce, the ribeyes and T-bones, chicken brochettes and Italian sausages, the poor vegetarian guest is left to nibble on coleslaw and potato salad or those dreadful tofu wieners.

But many vegetables make for great grilling, among them onions, zucchini and eggplant. Even carrots and asparagus taste better when tossed with a little olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and slapped on the grill until golden.

Fruits do nicely on the grill, too, their sugars caramelizing and their flavours deepening. Even some cheeses, such as the Middle Eastern halloumi, are great candidates for the grill.

Barbara Kafka, the bestselling New York cookbook author and vegetable lover, says the secret to successful vegetarian grilling is knowing which vegetables go straight on the grill and which need a little parcooking first.

As she points out in Vegetable Love (Artisan), summer squash, eggplants and leeks all lend themselves to grilling without much fuss. Longer-cooking vegetables like potatoes, winter squash and fennel need "softening up" first. Kafka suggests steaming them briefly, or microwaving.

Either way, most large vegetables need to be cut into uniform chunks or slices that will allow them to cook quickly and evenly at high temperatures. One of the best ways to ensure even cooking is to thread the vegetable pieces onto skewers, which also helps keep them from falling through the cracks of the grill grate.

Another way is to place them in a grill basket.

Kafka offers a few simple rules for grilling vegetables successfully:

- Always start with a clean, oiled grill.

- Brush all the sides of the vegetables lightly with sunflower or canola oil. (Save expensive olive oil for drizzling over the vegetables after grilling.)

- Grill over a hot fire, but not too hot. Kafka offers the "four-second test" to gauge the temperature: If you can hold your palm two inches above the grill for a full four seconds, but no longer, the grill is ready for cooking.

- Leave a little space between the vegetables to ensure even cooking. If the coals begin to flare up, move the vegetables aside and wait for the flames to subside before continuing.

- Use marinades to deepen flavours. But don't leave the vegetables soaking in the marinade for more than a half-hour or so; otherwise they will get soggy.

Here are a few meat-free recipes for the summer grill that will appeal to vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Fresh herb marinade

This simple marinade from Barbara Kafka's book Vegetable Love works well with all kinds of vegetables, including mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and other summer squash, as well as tofu.

Makes: 1/2 cup.

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage

2 Tbsp lemon juice or orange juice

2 tsp kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Stir the oil and fresh herbs together in a small skillet. Heat over very low heat for five minutes. Scrape the herb mixture into a bowl.

Whisk in the lemon or orange juice, salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature for an hour or refrigerate overnight before using.

Marinate vegetables for 30 minutes before grilling. Remove excess marinade and place vegetables on welloiled grill over high heat until tender and golden in colour.

Grilled Indian cheese kebabs

Grilled and smoked cheeses are popular all over the world. In the Middle East and Greece, they grill halloumi; in Italy, mozzarella.

India has its own version.

India's kebab features tomato, onion and poblano or bell pepper, basted with cilantro-garlic butter. In his book Planet Barbecue!, Steven Raichlen calls this recipe tandoori paneer.

The key to grilling cheese is to choose one that can stand up to high heat without melting. This recipe can be made with Indian paneer, a mild Indian cow's-milk cheese carried by Indian grocers; halloumi, available at Greek, Iranian and Middle Eastern stores (and sometimes at the supermarket); or Mexican queso blanco or Italian mozzarella.

Use wide metal or presoaked wooden skewers when making this dish.

4 poblano peppers or green bell peppers

4 large ripe tomatoes

2 medium-size red onions

2 pounds (1 kg) paneer, halloumi, queso blanco or mozzarella cheese

8 Tbsp salted butter

3 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 Tbsp grated ginger

1 1/2 tsp turmeric

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup sesame seeds

Lemon wedges, for serving

Cut the peppers into 5 cm square pieces, discarding the core and seeds.

Cut each tomato into four wedges, removing seeds, then cut each wedge again crosswise.

Cut the onions in half crosswise; cut each half into quarters, then break the quarters into layers.

Cut the cheese into pieces that are 5 cm square and 1 cm thick.

Thread a piece of pepper on a skewer, followed by a piece of tomato, onion and cheese, repeating the sequence until all the ingredients are used up.

Melt 3 Tbsp of the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add cilantro, garlic, ginger, turmeric and black pepper and cook until fragrant, but not browned, about two minutes. Add remaining butter and continue cooking until butter is melted.

Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.

When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate.

Brush the kebabs on all sides with some of the cilantro-garlic butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Arrange the kebabs on the hot grate and grill them until nicely browned on all sides, about eight minutes in all. Turn them as the cheese starts to melt, and baste with cilantro-garlic butter.

Serve at once with lemon wedges.

Banga-flavoured grilled zucchini

From Mangoes and Curry Leaves (Random House Canada), a beautiful book of Indian and South Indian cuisine by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, comes this recipe for Bangladeshi grilled zucchini.

Serves 4

2 long (20 to 25 cm) slender zucchini

2 Tbsp mustard oil

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp black mustard seeds, ground

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Chopped fresh mint or coriander for garnish

Cut zucchini in half crosswise and then slice lengthwise into 1 cm slices.

Heat the oils in a skillet and fry the spices, salt and sugar for about 10 seconds, then remove from the heat and set aside. (You can flavour the oil a day ahead and store it, once cooled, in a clean glass container until ready to use.)

Preheat a charcoal or gas grill. Brush zucchini with the flavoured oil, then grill over moderate heat until softened and touched with colour. Sprinkle on a little chopped mint or coriander before serving.

Charred green onions

Milder than mature onions, scallions are simple and delicious on the grill, as in this recipe from Latin Grilling (Ten Speed Press) by Lourdes Castro. They are great as a side dish or tucked into a taco.

Heat the grill to high and close the lid. Wait at least 15 minutes before lowering the heat to medium high.

Cut a 20 cm piece of aluminum foil and set next to the grill. Place the green onions on the grill and cook for four minutes, or until you see grill marks. Flip the onions over and cook for another four minutes.

Place the cut piece of foil on one side of the grill and, using tongs, place the green tops on the foil.

Leave the thicker white parts directly on the grill. Continue grilling for another four minutes or until tender.

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